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November 28, 2011

Oh yeah, time to delve into this hobby box of 2011 Panini Threads that I picked up on Black Friday. The box contains 24 packs with 8 cards per pack and 4 relic or autograph cards on average per box. Let's see how this baby plays out:

Pack #1

Holy horizontal, Batman! I didn't realize that all of these cards are of the horizontal persuasion. Personally, I think these are some really well designed cards. I like the full-bleed, sharp action photos and that fabric looking banner on the right. The team logos do look a little out of place in the upper left corner of the card but overall these are pretty sweet. The Gridiron Kings insert on the bottom left of the scan is pretty cool as well. It was printed to look like watercolors on a canvas.

My only real gripe so far is the rookie card of Baron Batch. If your gonna show a rookie in his college uniform, make sure you have the license to show college logos as well. Geez, it looks like he is in a practice uni.

Pack #2

Although the rookie in this pack has a studio photo on it, at least he is wearing an Eagles hat. Plus I got my first Dolphins card of the box, sweet.

Pack #3

Oh no! The dreaded combine rookie card rears it's ugly head. Whoever thought these would be a good idea should be tarred and feathered in my opinion.

Pack #4

This pack is full of Charlie Sheen (or "win" for those of you living under a rock). First, I find it kind of amusing that Terelle Pryor has a rookie card with no team. Second, I got two cards for my Hurricanes collection in Santana Moss and Frank Gore. And thirdly.....

....I pulled the first hit of the box. Just like the Gridiron Kings insert in the first pack, this one is made to look like it was printed on canvas although this one looks more like a photo than the Bo Scaife insert and this one is numbered 119/299. I think the jersey color matches the color on that little panel on the left to well and doesn't stand out well enough. Not the best hit to pull but there are 3 more hits to go in this box (hopefully).

I think I'm gonna add a new page to the blog chronicling the hits I pull from products from now going forward.

November 26, 2011

Just got back home after a quick trip to Charleston to catch a Daniel Tosh stand up show. I don't have a local card shop in my hometown so I took advantage of my trip by stopping by Hooked on Cards in Charleston to pick up a hobby box on my way home. I picked up one hobby box of 2011 Panini Threads and a couple of hobby packs of 2011 Topps Gridiron Legends. Plus, I was able to pick up some of those bonus Black Friday packs that Panini was nice enough to give out with their products. I met the owner of the store, James, and he was a real nice person. So if you happen to be in the Charleston area drop by his shop and see what he's got to offer.

I'll save hobby box for future posts but today I went ahead and ripped the Gridiron Legends packs as well as the bonus Black Friday packs.

First lets look at the two hobby packs of 2011 Topps Gridiron Legends:

Here are some of the notable non-rookie base cards I pulled from both packs. Campbell was the only legend that I pulled.

These are the rookies from both packs with Locker being the obvious big name of the bunch.

Here are the two parallels I pulled. These are the blue versions and they are not serial numbered.

Each pack contained one of these Gridiron Legacies inserts.

So I got unlucky with these two packs but I had fun ripping them. Now onto the Black Friday packs:

Each of these little packs contained only two cards. One card in each pack was a "base" card and these can be seen above. That Sidney Crosby card is the first hockey card I have ever held in my hand in my whole life.

I guess these can be considered the "inserts" of the Black Friday packs. That Josh Hamilton might be a preview to Panini's upcoming baseball release. The Aldon Smith card is numbered to /999. These packs were a great idea by Panini to give collectors a reason to visit their local card shops on the busiest shopping weekend of the year.

But, no cards for the personal collections from this rip so it deserves a:

Keep an eye out as I will be ripping into that hobby box of Panini Threads in the near future.

It may be surprising that Mark Teixeira did not lead the league in any major offensive category despite enjoying one of the best seasons of his career in 2008. That's because Mark started the season in the National League being a force in the Braves lineup and ended the season being a force in the American League while a part the Anaheim Angels lineup. Teixeira's combined stats for 2008: .308 batting average, 33 home runs, and 121 RBI all while playing stellar defense at first base.

Sorry for the delay in between posts but once again work got in the way of blogging by draining my motivation for posting. But back to it and today I finished off ripping the 2011 Topps Football value box I picked up last week. Here's the highlights (and the lowlights):

First the rookies:

I'm showing these off first because I want to state my disgust with them. I really do not like these rookie cards at all and I do not understand Topps' thinking on these. I don't want any rookies with pictures of them at the combine. Football players need to be pictured in football gear not in workout gear.

Now this is how all of the rookie cards should look. The players are decked out in the gear of the team that drafted them. I think that Topps is trying to cram too many rookies in this set and they are having to resort to workout pictures in order fill those rookie spots. Maybe Topps should run two series of their football set so they can avoid doing that.

Just a few of the inserts that you have all seen before and a gold parallel.

These are the 1950 Bowman inserts. I really like these as everybody knows I have a soft spot for mini cards. Vick is the only one not showing off his stiff arm technique.

Now these are some quality inserts. I love the look of these cards and subtle team color tint of the background. Kudos to Topps on this insert set.

And the most of important part of any pack ripping endeavor is getting cards for the personal collections. I got 2 Dolphins and 3 Canes in this box although two of the cards are of the hated combine picture variety. Reggie Wayne is looking somewhat angelic with the white aura on his card.

I entered the Super Bowl Legends code into the website and I got a digital jersey. Bleh. Topps should give away a card with every code even if they are just a lowly base card. It was bad enough that the Diamond giveaway has the virtual rings but the Legends giveaway has virtual coins, rings, and jerseys. So you have a better chance of getting virtual junk than actual cards. What a sham.

In 2006, CC Sabathia finished with a 12-11 record but it was still a solid season for the southpaw from Cali. He led the American League in complete games and shutouts while finishing in the top ten in ERA, WHIP, strikeouts, and strikeouts per nine innings. 2006 was the last season that CC Sabathia was considered a "good pitcher" because after 2007 he was considered a "great pitcher"

1. What is the best autograph you own?
2. What is the best autograph that you've ever pulled from a pack of cards?
3. What is the worst autograph you've ever pulled from a pack of cards?
4. Do you try to get autographs through the mail? If so, what sort of success (or failure) stories do you have?
5. Who was the subject of your first ever autograph?
6. Do you actively collect any autographs (certain players, teams, brands, etc)?
7. Which is better: Autographs or Relics?
8. What do you think of cut autos?
9. What is your favorite autograph design (say in the last 5 years)?
10. If you could get the autograph of any five people (dead or alive) who would you want a signature from (and why)?

And the answers:

1. I would say that my 2006 Playoff Contenders Devin Hester Rookie Auto is the best autograph that I own. If Hester continues to return kickoffs and punts for touchdowns, he should be in consideration for the Hall of Fame at the end of his career. Plus he is a former Miami Hurricane.

2. The best auto I ever pulled was a Ken Griffey Jr. auto from 2006 Ovation.

3. I can't narrow this down to one. I always have bad luck pulling auto's from boxes.

4. No, I don't try to get autos through the mail.

5. My first ever autograph card was signed by Mark Lemke in person in 1992.

6. I do actively collect autos from my favorite teams.......when the price is right.

7. Definitely autographs.

8. I like the cut auto idea. Just wish they would put pictures on some of the cards as well.

9. Anything with on-card autos. I don't mind sticker autos too much if they fit the card design but most of the time they make the card look trashy. I wish all autos were on card so you would know that a star actually handled the card you received.

10. Five people that I want a signature of:

Hank Aaron - The greatest Braves player of all-time but most of his autos are at a premium

Dan Marino - The greatest Dolphins player of all-time but most of his autos are at a premium

Edgar Allan Poe - My favorite writer of all-time

Thomas Edison - An amazing mind and a man who thought nothing was impossible

Abraham Lincoln - The president who had to handle the greatest turmoil to ever hit this country.

November 06, 2011

I started this blog last November as a way to accentuate my rebirth into card collecting. I really struggled with the blog for the first few months and nearly shut it down altogether back in May as I was just not enjoying blogging at the time. I am a naturally quiet, introverted guy so I've always had a lot of trouble trying to type out my thoughts (still do to an extent). But then I discovered the missing link that would help keep this blog rolling for the months to come......

All of the other great card blogs out there.

I was so focused on trying to write on my own blog that I was totally oblivious to all of inspiration that would come to me from all of you bloggers out there. But sometime during the spring I gained a follower named "Core Contrarian". Up to that point I had never read a blog from any other card collector and when I first visited the Core Contrarian blog and saw the blog list on his sidebar, I was opened up to a whole new world and it rekindled my interest in blogging.

So to all of you bloggers and readers, for keeping this blog alive for a whole year and hopefully years to come, I want give you all a very big thank you...

And a Big Kiss

ENJOY!

Now onto more pressing matters, FREE CARDS!

Thanks to everyone that participated in the contest. I learned a lot about about some of you out there thanks to all of the comment responses. There sure are some characters around these parts.

November 05, 2011

With the anniversary of this blog tomorrow, I decided it was time for me to start up a second blog. Thoughts from a Fanatic is the title of my new blog and it will encompass posts about my favorite teams, sports, and whatever I feel like writing about at any given moment. I did this so I can separate my rants and raves to another blog while leaving the focus of the Card Hobbyist blog for my collecting stuff. Not much to look at since I just started it today but head on over to check it out every now and then for s*!ts and giggles.

Don't forget I will be doing the contest randomization and announcing the winners for the October contest tomorrow so stay tuned.